Cervelli Management Corp and Michael Cervelli Real Estate LLC have been providing brokerage, management and consulting services to the real estate industry for over 29 years. In addition, we have partnered with local investors and institutions in the purchase, rehabilitation, management and disposition of distressed assets. We use our own cash and we don’t rely solely on third party investments. We are careful and conservative in our investment strategies. Some have said this has lead to missed opportunities however we like to think it points to a slow, sure and steady investment plan that will lead to passive income and asset accumulation. More importantly, this strategy has lead to consistently higher returns and has never jeopardized our partner’s investment. Here are a few examples of our investment strategy…
Our group purchased a 36,000 s/f office building in Hudson County that had gone dark. Within 90 days of closing we had the building 50% occupied. Within 180 days we had the building 75% occupied. Within 3 years the building was fully leased and financing was secured. We withdrew our equity and continue to enjoy a very healthy cash flow. The value of the building has increased over 350% as a result of our business acumen.
Within the last 5 years we purchased a rural underperforming subsidized apartment building with substantial rent losses in Morris County. Within one year we increased the net income and have been enjoying a positive 8% cash on cash return. This was a result of aggressive, unyielding collection policies and cost control measures. The value of the project has increased over 200% as a result of our efforts.
Within the last 7 years our group purchased an urban subsidized apartment building in Jersey City. As a result of our hands on management we substantially increased the net income in just 2 years and within the next year we extracted our equity out of the project. We have been enjoying a steady cash flow for many years. This property is in the heart of an urban area with neighborhood challenges. We like to boast that this property is in great condition and our lender recently did an inspection and stated it had the cleanest common areas in the county! In addition, our rent-vacancy loss is less than 4%. The value of this asset has increased over 300% as a result of our efforts.
We saw the value in these deals that others did not and we unlocked that value with professional hands-on management. If you would like to learn more about our team please visit our booth at the Governor’s Conference on September 22nd and 23rd or reach out to us at 201-868-6300.
Chris Cervelli is a broker associate at Michael Cervelli Real Estate, LLC.